Three years after the installation of the first 2000 series E-Crane at the port of Ghent, Belgium, scrap terminal, Galloo Gent (part of the European-based Galloo Group) has installed a second, identical unit. The two E-cranes are being used to load material into Handymax vessels up to Panamax size and for off-loading barges and coasters.
The newest 2000 series E-Crane has been working since the end of 2012 and is the third successful installation of an E-Crane for Galloo Gent (formerly Van Heyghen Recycling) and the tenth for the Galloo Group.
In the past, scrap loading, unloading and stockpiling operations on Galloo Gent’s dock were carried out by contracted, large rubber-tired mobile harbour cranes. The company says that by 2012, their first E-Crane had proven itself over several years and had passed numerous tests verifying reliability and hourly production rates. It was time for Galloo Gent to move forward again.
The new E-Crane, inaugurated in November, 2012, is a 2000 Series (21382 GA-E) with a lift capacity of 40 metric tons (44 US tons) and reach of 38.2 metres (125 feet). The crane uses a 600-kW electric motor and is fitted with a 12-cubic-metre orange peel grab. Galloo Gent says their new E-crane has greatly reduced operating time and costs in loading vessels and in receiving, handling and stockpiling scrap in their yard. The E-Crane is used for stockpiling the scrap to a height of over 25 metres, which is necessary to ensure there is enough scrap ready for the loading of Handymax ships.
Since the arrival of the new E-Crane, Galloo Gent says unloading barges with scrap for this stockpile takes less than half the time it did before. And when loading smaller coasters, the measured loading rate surpasses 1,000 tph, which allows ocean-going Handymax ships to be loaded in under 48 hours.
“It took some effort to convince the local management, that was renting mobile harbour cranes for many years, of the benefits of the E-Crane solution,” said Rik Debaere, CEO, Group Galloo Recycling. “I promised them an improvement of 25 percent and I must admit that even I was pleasantly surprised to see that with the E-Crane we are now saving up to 50 percent in time compared to the old situation with the rental cranes.”
With this multimillion dollar investment in a second dock side E-Crane, Galloo Gent says they can offer their worldwide clientele better service and they now optimize the use of their quay by substantially reducing vessel loading times. According to the Galloo Group, they are currently one of the most highly performing, state-of-the-art scrap terminal operators in Western Europe, and will keep on investing to support the further economic growth and expansion in the port of Ghent.
